It's made rustically as I was running out of time, but it is just as flavoursome. It has India (chilli paste, cumin, black pepper, ginger, garlic, peas) and sort-of Chinese (soy, rice vinegar, corn, spring onions). Just more-ish.
The last two days we had Indian style fried chicken breast and spinach in tomato sauce with basmati rice. Actually, todays version was with May turnip greens and and also aloo chaat. 😋
As for the Eat-30-Plants-A-Week plan: with 70 different types of plants in total we have far surpassed the target this week. I guess it was simply a really varied vegetable week, I can’t really see us eating that many plants all the time. But 30 should be possible. Especially when you find a display like on photo 2, loads of different aubergines in our local supermarket - I’m seriously impressed!
The last two photos show a small but pretty bowl that somebody discarded. I found it in our building’s refuse area and just had to pick it up.
Another nomenclature snag in Indian recipes in English. #NonVegetarianToot
"Mutton" can refer to goat meat, beef, or sheep.
"In South Asian or Caribbean cuisine, mutton refers to the meat of goats. In India however, we often refer to beef, sheep and goat meat as mutton"
I am working* with recipes (veg and non-veg) from Kerala atm and had to research mutton after some ambiguities. It seems that mostly goat and some beef is used there, at least by some Keralite ethnic groups.
Being curious, I even found an app to help with counting all the different plants I’ve been eating since Monday morning and can report back that it took me only two days to go over the limit of 30. The app is not quite as strict as the method described in the first article but I think I’m probably on a good track in feeding my family. looking smug
I got the dish made today that I wanted to make, and oh my goodness it was kinda exceptional.
I made Indian Coriander leaves and Mint chutney, and then Date chutney. Meanwhile par-boiled potatoes were roasting till crispy.
The potatoes were drizzled with yoghurt, the two chutneys and garam masala. Then they were topped with coriander leaves, diced carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, red capsicum, onion, radishes, pomegranate kernels and beans sprouts (that I made yesterday).
Finally, a sprinkling of chaat masala and lots of thin sev.
The tastes of Indian street food, and so many textures and flavours. Plus the roasted potatoes were uber uber good.
One of the most wonderful tastes on this planet is the tangy spice, chilli and tamarind mix of Indian street food. It is glorious, addictive, and quite mind blowing. The flavours have a party in your mouth. No, truly! If you are doubting me, head off to your nearest good Indian restaurant and try Pani Puri, or Samosa Chaat – any chaat for that matter – and even Rasam will give you a sample of the hot and sour tastes that make up Indian food.
This recipe from #Ottolenghi's #PlentyMore takes the notion of the hot, sour, salty and sweet flavour mix and stuffs it inside a potato cake made from mashed potatoes. It mimics the Aloo Tika and Potato Cutlet snacks of India, Podimas recipes of South India, and more recently I saw a fabulous BALL of mashed potato full of North Indian street-food flavours.
A few things from the weekend cookup. First, Rajma, a kidney bean curry. This was so awesome that I'll make it again soon. Not usually a great fan of kidney beans, this dish might have changed my mind.
I cooked the kidney beans in the #InstantPot, so easy and convenient, and perfectly cooked.
The base of the Rajma was this awesome Smoky Tomato Onion Masala. It has to be one of the best base masalas I've come across, yet it is quite easy to make. I used some of my powdered dehydrated tomatoes in it, which I think amped up the flavours.
Gujarati Dal, another great dal from this book, made with toor dal. Again, the dal was cooked perfectly in the #InstantPot, to the point of disintegration - just how to cook it for Indian dishes as it develops s silky smooth texture at that point.
I cooked enough toor dal to put some in the freezer.
Once the lentils were cooked, the dish came together pretty easily with a tadka made first, then the lentils added
A nice crispy element to add to the others - Roasted Bhinda. Split in 4 without cutting through, they are partially roasted before being tossed in spices, ginger and garlic, then roasted again. Really lovely and an alternative to deep fried battered okra (which I love).
And finally, as well as plain rice, there was Kothmira rice (Chutney Pulao) which is a stunning rice dish made with peas and a coriander leaves-chilli fresh chutney. This has become a firm favourite.
From #PlantBasedIndia by #DrSheilShukla - Rasavala Potatoes with Greens. Rasavala means "prepared in gravy".The greens are from the garden, and I cooked it in the #InstantPot. I could have made the sauce more elegant, but time is always a pressure. Yummy though. Lots of coriander. Spicy.
Poha! Just with chillies, spices, curry leaves. A simple dish.
Poha (aka pohe, aval, pauwa, sira, chira, chivda, avalakki, and other names) is Indian flattened rice.
Rice is parboiled before flattening so that it doesn't require a lot of cooking.
It is particularly delicious and can be used for savoury and (more rarely) sweet dishes.
Chicken Pulao from a local tea shop operated by a Gurkhali lady. Taste, difference from your 'normal' pulao etc in Alt-text.
Trivia: The assimilation of Gurkhas into Mizo society is a fascinating one - converting to Christianity (not all of them), speaking only in Mizo and so on. There's many Mizos who quip, "They're more Mizo than most Mizos". I'm not the right person to ask so I don't know when and how it happened.
A busy little bee this morning in the kitchen. Packs of nuts and seeds made up for the next month. Also packs with my smoothie ingredients in it (just add almond milk or coconut water, fruit and some good oils) - again for a month. The top shelf of the fridge is full with these little containers, looking so cute.
Tomato-Coconut Chutney made. And there will be some more khichdi later. I am feeling the need for simple, healthy food atm. #IndianFood
Also, a tray of eggplants roasted, ready to be peeled and pulp put into the freezer. #LifeIsGood
Special #Breakfast this Sunday morning. #MasalaOats from "Parsi" by Farokh Talati and South Indian #FilterCoffee with Oat Milk. The oats were fantastic and pretty easy to makee. Vegetarian but can be vegan without Ghee.
We are so excited to go through more #recipes in this book!